J 2016

Case Briefs in Legal English Classes

BILOVÁ, Štěpánka

Základní údaje

Originální název

Case Briefs in Legal English Classes

Autoři

BILOVÁ, Štěpánka (203 Česká republika, garant, domácí)

Vydání

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 2016, 0860-150X

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Obor

50300 5.3 Education

Stát vydavatele

Polsko

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14640/16:00093699

Organizační jednotka

Centrum jazykového vzdělávání

Klíčová slova anglicky

English for Specific Purposes; legal English; case briefs; methodology

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno
Změněno: 26. 2. 2017 12:23, Mgr. Štěpánka Dillingerová, Ph.D.

Anotace

V originále

A case brief can be described as a succinct summary of a case which specifies the facts, procedural history, legal issue(s), court decision and legal reasoning supporting the judgment, even though exact formats may vary. Case briefing is a demanding activity which is required from students during their law studies. The goal is to teach students to focus on the essential parts of the case and to obtain a thorough understanding of the case and the reasoning, which means the students need to employ their analytical and critical thinking skills. The course of English for academic legal purposes (as part of English for specific purposes) can also benefit from implementing case briefs. Students are exposed to useful legal vocabulary while the cases themselves bring real life examples of the law, which can increase students’ interest and motivation. The paper briefly introduces the literature on the methodology of teaching case briefing and on case briefs within the linguistics research and then describes a sample activity on case briefs from legal English classes. My experience shows that it is important to provide students with sufficient scaffolding for completing the task successfully. Even though the students feel they are easily and quickly acquainted with the format and the language used, they encounter problems when preparing particular cases. The activity combines both individual and collaborative work, oral and written outputs and peer reviewing. Case briefing is a valuable learning activity; nevertheless, some students may find it difficult as they need not only language skills, but also general critical thinking skills. The teacher should therefore facilitate their work, help them practice the ability to find relevant information, identify the issue and comprehend the reasoning behind.